I’ve been posting various John Peel Night Ride and Top Gear sessions from the late 60s as montages on YouTube recently. There’s 16 sessions or bits of sessions there so far. Feel free to investigate. Here’s one, a very atmospheric Michael Chapman session on Night Ride in 1968 (his first of a dozen for JP):
Over the late-night airwaves 50 years ago
Oh to be that young again…
I recently discovered Michael Chapman. He’s great, isn’t he? Great songwriting, seemingly effortless.
He’s relaxed, certainly…
He has some sort of importance in the story of the Spiders from Mars. I can’t remember what.
On the recommendation of bassist Rick Kemp, Mick Ronson played guitar on Chapman’s second album, “Fully Qualified Survivor”, a little while before being recruited by John Cambridge, who he’d worked with in local Hull band The Rats, to join Bowie in The Hype and later The Spiders From Mars.
John Cambridge’s replacement in The Rats was “Woody” Woodmansey, who also later replaced him in The Hype.
In early 1970, Ronson’s career as a session player was beginning to take off, while Bowie was advertising his ‘new electric band’ in the MM for a gig at the Hounslow Arts Lab. Something I wrote about here: http://bangnzdrum.blogspot.com/2018/10/february-1970-bowie-in-obscurity-mick.html
Thanks both. I went to see Turn And Face The Strange, I oughta know this.
@nickduvet excellent blog, by the way!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it 🙂
BTW, Colin, enjoyed that Peel session. Will check out the others.
Is it still possible to download vintage Peel shows from his website?
I’ve no idea. I’m just uploading to YouTube things I’ve digitised whenever I have time.
A few years ago, on this site or its predecessor, someone provided a link to various Peel show downloads from the 60s and onwards. I’ve really enjoyed listening to the few I downloaded at the time (mostly TG and Perfumed Garden era) but can’t find the source anymore. There does seem to be a variety of other sources though, incl YT and Mixcloud
And a mere 51 years later……
Looking forward to April, when his touring “band”, like this track, includes BJ Cole.
Here’s another example…
Never properly listened to Michael Chapman’s debut L.P.
I shall remedy that situation over the next few days.
I might do the same.
I bought my copy a few years ago, a Light in the Attic CD, and asked Michael to sign it when he played at Botallack.
He’d never seen it before and his expression betrayed a haunting “am I getting any royalties from this?” look. It rather suggested he wasn’t!
He flipped it around a couple of times, took out the sleeve-notes, stared at the CD itself. I genuinely thought he was going to take it away for his lawyer to investigate.
I liked him.
He was the first person I’d asked for an autograph since Marianne Faithfull, 25 years previously.
He seems a nice fella, very endearing patter on stage and happy to blether after standing up for the best part of 2 hours. None of yer sit down guitar playing for the near octogenarian.
This is great…